On Wednesday, Oct. 21, Precious Movements, Unceasing Prayer Ministry, and Wednesday Night Worship (WNW) worked together to put on an evening of worship that combined the strengths of all the different forms of worship that these organizations practice. It took place in the evening, at nine o’clock at night, just like Wednesday Night Worship usually does this semester, but went slightly longer than the usual hour due to the inclusion of the other groups.
As many people on campus know, Wednesday Night Worship regularly strives to help people worship God through music and song; they usually lead people in singing contemporary worship music, though some more traditional hymns are occasionally incorporated. Likewise, Precious Movements is dedicated to worshipping the Lord through dance. Unceasing also cooperated in the event, and their description on Eastern’s website states: “The Unceasing Prayer Ministry strives to help facilitate a prayerful and thoughtful community open to learning different forms of prayer, interceding for others, and making time for quiet reflection.”
When asked about where the idea for this evening of united worship came to be, Kaitlyn Arrow, a member of WNW, said that it had come up at the Welcome Back Bash. “At the Welcome Back Bash Malicka came up to Michelle and I at our WNW table and asked us if we would want to do a collab night with different ministry clubs. We loved the idea and so Michelle worked out a date for us to join together for a united night of worship with Precious Movements and Unceasing,” Arrow said.
Arrow leads one of WNW’s three bands and is one of their vocalists. Wednesday Night Worship actually was part of what drew her to Eastern in the first place; “When I was looking for colleges I came to WNW when I was doing an overnight visit and I absolutely fell in love with it. It is one of the many reasons why I chose Eastern. I have always loved leading worship so trying out for WNW was a no brainer,” Arrow said.
The goal of the evening was to show people the different ways one can worship, as well as giving people opportunities to participate in all those ways. “I think the collaboration really embraced the heart of WNW. The goal of WNW is really to bring people closer to God, and having Precious Movements there really contributed to the spirit of worship. People worship in so many different ways and being able to combine playing music and dancing was so incredible. It allowed people to not only see a different kind of worship, but it also allowed people who don’t connect to the form of worship WNW usually does to connect to the worship of Precious Movements,” Arrow said.
With one of Eastern’s stated goals being faith, it seems central to the goal of the university to provide these types of activities that demonstrate the diversity of worship. The community of Eastern is meant to be oriented toward worshipful flourishing, and these three groups recognize their different roles in helping members of the community achieve that worship.
Many students found joy in the collaboration. It was encouraging to see friends taking part in the different ministries, and many enjoyed seeing what their friends had worked hard on perfecting so that they could lay it at the feet of the Lord. It was a communal worship experience where each had their own part to play, and there was beauty in that community.
When asked if this sort of collaboration would happen again, Arrow was hopeful. “We have definitely talked about doing it again and potentially doing it on a more regular basis,” she said. Students can look forward to events like these in the future and perhaps be reminded of the beauty of worship done in community.